Fire Up The RV It’s Time To Go Camping

Jeremy Nutt 2 Comments

If you like camping as much as I do, once the warm weather hits, its hard to contain yourself. There are some great places to go camping in New England, especially up in the White Mountain region. In the mountains you can find anything from state parks to places like Tripoli Road where you can pretty much just pull off and setup camp.

If you own an RV, take the time to mechanically go through your rig before heading out on your first trip. Make sure all of the brake lines are intact and not rotting, inspect the tires for wear and dry rot, take a look at the exhaust system, and also during the spring  is a great time to change the oil and do a tune up if you need to. Read More

The Bottom Of The Snow Pile: A Sad Looking Jaguar XJS

Jeremy Nutt 10 Comments

When I was in middle school, probably around 16 years ago, a Jaguar XJS showed up in a parking lot near my friend’s house. It made a lasting impression on me because at the time, it was an absolutely beautiful car with exceptionally rich black paint, a low roof line, sleek body contours, and I’m quite confident that it had a V12 emblem on the back. It proudly announced its luxury and prominent heritage to any car that parked next to it. “Hey Chevy Cavalier, look at me, I’m a fancy Jaaaaguar… Did I mention I have a V12?…. meowww…..” There was something very odd about this car though – it never, ever, ever, moved! It sat in the middle of this big newly paved parking lot, waiting for somebody to drive it home. First it was waiting for weeks, then months….then years….and now decades?  The only time that I saw it move was when it landed in the dirt corner of the parking lot. At the time, I remember thinking “that car looks like it was dragged there with force -ouch!” Was it abandoned? Was it just being stored there until the restoration could begin?  For 17 years? Who knows. The only confirmed fact that we have to work with, is that each winter it becomes the bottom of a very, very large snow pile. Read More

Earth Day: Let’s Celebrate With Electric Car Burnout Videos

Jeremy Nutt 5 Comments

Today is Earth Day, and rather that polluting your eyes and ears with awesome videos of supercharged big block muscle cars doing smokey burnouts, we are going to give the electric cars their chance to shine.  So, without further adieu, I present to you an electric Porsche 914 and a Corbin Sparrow/Myers Motors NmG (a.k.a. “Tweety Bird”) burnout video for your enjoyment. If you have one to share, post it up! Also, don’t litter.

Can’t see the video? Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EmnXk32sm0

Can’t see the video? Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb2NTZ6CtM8

Mark Martin Runs 1986 Paint Scheme For All-Star Race

Jeremy Nutt 2 Comments

During the Nascar All-Star Race on May 21st, Mark Martin will be sporting a red Chevy Impala sponsored by Farmers Insurance. Farmers Insurance will be a primary sponsor for five races during the 2011 season.

Mark Martins car for the All-Star Race will be a throwback to 1986 when Hendrick Motorsports fielded the Folgers Monte Carlo driven by Tim Richmond. In 1986 Tim Richmond had Harry Hyde as his crew chief, which proved to be a potent combination.  Tim Richmond won seven races and eight pole positions during that season.

Mark Martin has been with Farmers Insurance for over five years and stated that it was a great deal for the fans to bring back this paint scheme, and that he was pretty excited to be a part of it.

Picture borrowed from http://www.hendrickmotorsports.com

More Low: You’ve Seen This Car Before.

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Have you ever been driving down the highway and thought to yourself, “MAN I could REALLY use a photo-shoot right NOW! “?  Well, this is my friend Ryan’s VW, and he had that exact thought just the other day.  Rather than overthinking it, he grabbed the bull by the horns and ran away with the idea.

His car?  Well, it’s a ’08 GTI that is more low than not low, and whether it be on the side of a highway or in a grass covered field, this thing always seems to pose right for the camera.  It’s as if the car knows who’s looking at it, so it always does that thing it does. Enough about poses though, lets talk about the crazy Area 51-esque laser show that is hovering around it like a reenactment scene from Unsolved Mysteries. If there are three things that cannot get cooler, it’s lasers, the 1980’s video technology that still makes those reenactment scenes, AND static dropped cars that really get driven.  Oh and by the way…… this car is quicker than the average rabbit. I drove this little rascal last summer and it left me questioning my own reality. That being said, enjoy the shots.

See the originals on Ryans Flickr

The 100+ MPG Prius: What’s Up With It?

Jeremy Nutt 12 Comments

While looking for a delicious place to eat dinner last week, I stumbled upon this “100+ MPG” Prius with an “OILFREE” license plate.  I immediately thought to myself “no and no”, and quickly snapped a picture. Now for the last few days this car has been haunting my brain. I just can’t wrap my brain around how they add 50 more miles per gallon because it is now able to be plugged-in. I feel like it is false advertising. Maybe I just don’t understand hybrid technology or maybe it’s the hybrid language that I don’t speak. The one thing I do know is that I have many more questions now than I did before I saw this thing.  Here are a few of the questions that I can’t stop thinking about:

  • Did that car really get 100+ mpg? Really?

  • Do electric/gas hybrid owners count fully electric-powered miles as “miles per gallon“? Is that fair?

  • If the above statement is true, can I build a fully electric vehicle, and put a sticker on my car that says “infinite MPG” ?

  • The kits to convert these cars to be a PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) are about $3000 on eBay not including labor for installation. To keep things simple, we’ll just assume that owners install it themselves. At $3.85 per gallon for regular unleaded gas, you could buy yourself 779 gallons of gas with that money instead and drive yourself about 38,950 miles. This also means that at 12K miles per year on average, it will take 3 years for the PHEV to pay for itself, and that is assuming that you get free electricity at your house to plug the car in to.  Car math is fun.

  • I bet I could find oil inside that car.